


"I just want a hug"

by hungrydean



Series: Tumblr Prompts [1]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Artist Castiel (Supernatural), Best Friends, Bullied Dean Winchester, Dead Mary Winchester, First Kiss, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-04
Updated: 2017-06-04
Packaged: 2018-11-08 20:36:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,703
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11089434
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hungrydean/pseuds/hungrydean
Summary: "What-"Dean grins, though it looks painful with his red eyes and dried tears on his cheek."That was a kiss, Cas, you do know what that is, right?"





	"I just want a hug"

He finds Dean outside, under a tree. His legs are pulled up and he’s hugging them, head resting on his knees. Cas can’t tell if he’s crying or not- he would have been, after what had happened. But he’d never seen Dean cry, except for that one time at his mom’s funeral.

Castiel quietly sits down next to his friend. Dean looks up at the sound and the feeling of Castiel’s leg against his, and he definitely cried. His eyes are red and there’s still tears on his face.

“I’m not- I didn’t- I didn’t cry.” He huffs angrily and sniffs.

“I know.”

Cas stares at his feet, at Dean’s backpack on his other side. It’s open and ripped, and Cas doesn’t think there’s anything in there that’s useful. It’s either broken, torn, or soaked.

“Fuck him,” Dean grumbles, following Cas’ glance. “Fuck him and his stupid friends – fuck Alistair, _fuck_ …” He shivers.

“They didn’t know about… you know, what they said? They don’t know about your mom.” Castiel bites his lip. The way Alistair had been pulling stuff out of Dean’s backpack, how he’d simply broken Dean’s phone in half and tossed it aside, but most of all how he’d laughed when he found the picture of Mary, it had been disgusting.

“I know- but still…”

“Yeah. Still. They’re assholes. You’re right.” Cas carefully rests his hand on Dean’s knee. He looks at him again, tears still in his eyes. Alistair just ruined almost everything that was important to Dean, including the picture of his mom. Besides that, he’d called Dean names, had thrown him on the floor while Alistair’s friends held back Cas, and other students just stood there. “I don’t – I don’t understand why. It’s unfair.”

Dean nods. He shakes his head and grabs his backpack, or what’s left of it. Together with Cas, he takes out everything that’s in there. Schoolbooks, soaked and useless, the scattered parts of Dean’s phone and snippets of Mary’s photo. Cas takes all he can find and grabs his own bag, searching for tape.

“Cas, it’s okay, you don’t have to-“

“I know this is the last picture you had of her, Dean, I can try to fix this, let me-“

Dean shakes his head.

“Please, it wouldn’t be the same anyways. It would remind me of that douchebag.”

Cas takes out a small plastic bag from his backpack and puts in the scraps instead, knots it and lays it in between them.

“Do you want to go to the counselor?” He already knows the answer. Dean shakes no. “Then what _do_ you want?”

It’s quiet for a while, but after a few moments, Dean mumbles an answer.

“What?” Cas leans forward.

“I just want a hug.” Dean blushes furiously, even though he looks extremely upset still, and his voice is shaky.

A hug? Dean doesn’t like the touchy-feely friendship thing, even though they have been friends for years, they only romped around. Hugs were for birthdays and awkward moments.

Now, Cas finds himself scooting closer and wrapping his arms around Dean. He immediately curls himself against Castiel’s chest, face hidden in Cas’ shoulder as if he’d been doing it for years. He feels his warm breath against his neck, which creates soft tingling on his skin. It’s weirdly comfortable and feels good. It almost makes Castiel smile, if it wasn’t for what had happened.

“Thanks, Cas,” Dean mutters but doesn’t move away. Castiel realizes Dean’s arms are wrapped around his waist. “You’re the best.”

It’s his time to blush. The tingling gets more apparent every time Dean breaths out. His hair smells like cinnamon and tickles Cas’ jaw. The school bell sounds, but neither of them moves.

“You okay with skipping?” Dean mutters, barely audible.

“Totally.” Cas answers. If it means spending time with Dean and making sure he is okay, he’d skip entire school days.

He doesn’t know how long he sits against that tree with Dean in his arms and on his lap. Their breathing is even and slow, almost as if they’re asleep. For a moment, Castiel thinks Dean is indeed sleeping, but then he moves. He sits up only a little so their faces are close to each other.

Dean readjusts Castiel’s shirt, then quickly leans forward and kisses Cas’ cheek.

It’s the last thing he thought Dean would do, and his eyes widen.   
“What-“  
Dean grins, though it looks painful with his red eyes and dried tears on his cheek.

“That was a kiss, Cas, you do know what that is, right?”

“Dean, I- Of course, _assbutt_ , but… why?”

“No reason.” Dean shrugs, but he’s as red as Cas feels. He shifts to sit next to Cas, but one of his arms is still around Castiel’s waist.

It’s Saturday, a few days later, when Castiel puts down his brush and looks at the painting he made. He frowns, it needs to be perfect and he forces himself to look at every little detail. But he is satisfied, at last. It might even be the best painting he ever made, which is exactly why it’s not for himself.

 _Dean, would you wanna come over?_ He texts rather nervously. He doesn’t add anything about the painting, he just hopes that Dean doesn’t have to work that night. It’s already quite late, close to dinner time. Castiel hadn’t realized how fast the day had gone because he was working on his own little project.

He almost jumps when his phone buzzes.

_Sure, what bout dinner?_

He hurries downstairs and asks his mom if Dean can eat with them.

“He’s always welcome,” she smiles as she stirs in the pasta sauce. “Did you finish your painting?”

“Yes, that’s why I asked Dean to come over. I’ll give it tonight.”

“I’m sure he’ll love it, honey, it’s such a sweet gift.”

The words of his mom give him a little more courage. He had asked her if it wasn’t lame a few times already, and he was still a bit scared. But he texts Dean that he can join them, and begins to set the table.

They have dinner first, the two boys and Castiel’s mom, who barely talks and just enjoys the happy conversation between the two friends. Dean is such a polite guest and is obviously loving the food. She can’t help but smile as she sees him eat, even after Castiel caught her glancing.

“You two go upstairs, I’ll do the dishes.” She suggests as both Dean and Cas already start helping. “It’s no big deal.”

Cas is more than nervous by the time they got to his closed door. Dean seems confused when Castiel stops in front of his bedroom and turns around.

“Uhm,” he says a little nervous, “I uh- there’s… there’s something I made- it’s for you, I finished it today so- yeah, it’s… it’s in here. You’ll see.”

Dean’s frown gets even deeper, especially when Castiel blushes even more.

He opens the door and stands aside, looking at Dean.

“Under there.” He points at the sheet he’d hung over the easel so the painting is covered.

Dean walks in, but before reaching the easel, he turns back to Cas. His eyes are wide, almost with disbelief.

“You- made a painting for me? But why-“

“Just look,” Cas says quickly.

He’s glad Dean’s back is turned to him as he lifts the sheet so he doesn’t see his expression.

It’s quiet for a while as Dean looks at the painting and Cas at everywhere _but_ the painting. It seems stuck to the inner of his eyelids, though, because whenever he closes them, he sees Mary’s face.

The silence is too long, and Castiel looks.

“Dean?” he asks quietly.

Dean sniffs as he turns around, tears slipping down his cheeks. Just like a few days before, it’s weird to see him cry, his always happy face now broken and wet.

“Cas, you- why… how-“ Cas walks over to him and hugs him tight, he doesn’t want to start crying himself.

“I’m so sorry about her, Dean, I’m so sorry…” He looks at the painting, the smile of Mary Winchester on a canvas that was once blank, empty and meaningless.

Dean’s grip is trembling but strong, gripping onto Cas’ shirt.

“I don’t… know how to thank you, why did you-“

Cas pulls away, looking into the teary, bright green eyes.

“Don’t thank me. When we went home, I saw you threw the picture pieces away. I took them out and fixed them and well… I suddenly knew I wanted to make a painting. This was your last photo of her and I couldn’t stand the idea of you not having anything left.” His voice trembles.

“Cas, thank you, I-”

“It’s okay, Dean. No need to thank me.”

Dean rubs his eyes, then wipes the tears from his cheeks. He keeps looking at the painting, but when he is about to say something, Cas’ mom calls that she has ice cream and Star Wars.

They are quiet while they watch the movie, sharing the ice cream from the box.

Halfway through the movie, Dean suddenly puts Cas’ spoon down.

“Hey, uh, Cas?”

When he looks at him, Dean reaches forward and kisses him. Not on the cheek, like that one time under the tree, but full on his lips. His lips are cold and taste like chocolate chip cookies ice cream, but Castiel wouldn’t want it differently. Dean moves away and blinks as if a spell is broken and he only just realized what he did.

“Dean, I… what was-“ Cas stutters.

Dean grins nervously, grabbing the spoon out of Cas’ hand and putting it into the ice cream.

“That was a kiss, Cas, you do know what that is, right?” He says again, and Castiel laughs too, nervous but… happy.

“I’m starting to learn.”

Dean holds the spoon at Cas’ lips, gently pressing until he opens his mouth and carefully takes the ice cream in his mouth.

Dean’s eyes sparkle as he adjusts his position. He snuggles up against Castiel’s side, the ice cream on his lap.

They end up falling asleep, near the end of the movie, way too comfortable in each other’s arms to worry about anything.


End file.
